Tim-Tam Slam

Even though the bus ride today was a whopping 10 hours, it seemed to fly by. I feel like if there is a bunch of pressing work to do on a 10 hour sitting period, it always goes by faster when you procrastinate. Case and point: me and the mountain of modules that I still haven’t graded.

 We had several stops along the way including one in Chinchilla and Roma where I bought some oranges from a local farmer. Along the way into the Carnavron Park we saw quite a few police cars (any number of them Jeff Gordon could have been driving) which were decorated with checkers and in bright solid colors. We got pulled over, rather blockaded, for a standard breathalyzer test (parents, breathe). Apparently the laws here is far more strict than the US. If someone has higher than a .05 BAL, they can get arrested. However, if a bus/truck driver is over 0.000… they’re canned.

The long, long road to Carnavron

Along the way from Roma into the park Bob had us perform a “Roadkill census” to see what kinds of animals we could find. A LOT of wallabies and small mammals met their match on the road in. A few bats and roos were included... and a few “unidentifiables”. He also pointed out a particular legume, leucana, that farmers here grow and release cattle into. The cows are all over the place! Apparently it’s a foreign species of plant and runs the risk of becoming invasive (like cane toads, prickly pear cactus… the list goes on and on).

Very Australian sky: dog or cloud?

Moments before...

Upon arrival we unpacked into our structured tents and I headed to the dinner area. I helped Steve and Collin, our driver, cook dinner which was a meat sauce, pasta and ice cream for dessert! It was a long time stirring pots and racing Collin to the thoroughly heated sauce finish but no worries… I won. Some of the students enthusiastically joined as well. We learned a new treat secret (well, several) from Collin who has now been named the candy man. They have these wonderful starburst gummies here (like Welch’s) and if you put a square of good chocolate in your mouth, let it melt, and eat a gummy (orange is the best) it’s delicious. Collin also showed me the best trick yet: the Tim-Tam Slam. It deserves capital letters.

All the kitchen helpers

Step by step guide:

One: bite off two opposing corners of the tim-tam.

Two: prepare a cup of hot “milo”. It’s relative to a less-sweet hot chocolate mix.

Three: use the tim-tam as a straw. When it gets so mushy that you can’t possibly hold on any more, shove it in your mouth.

Four: Lavish the chocolately goodness. Repeat until (a) tim-tams are gone or (b) nausea sets in.

My eyes have been opened.

And for you folks stuck in America, hope isn’t lost! Tim-Tams can be purchased at World Market for a pretty penny, but believe me, it’s definitely worth it.